Things Aren't Always What They Seem
by Shadouge4Ever
Summary: Rouge loves high school, but then comes the day when that changes. Her blood boils when her friends greet a new kid with open arms, and leaves them. But as time goes by, she develops feelings for him, and realizes that he isn't so bad after all. Shadouge.
1. The New Kid

Rouge woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. "Another day of highschool."

She got out of bed and walked to her closet.

"Hmmm…What should I wear?" she muttered to herself as she scanned all the clothes in her closet.

Then she spotted the perfect outfit. A white low-cut tank top and a red mini skirt would surely impress her friends today. Along with a pair of high heels and her favorite red purse. "I am gonna look hot in this."

She changed, and then went into the bathroom to put on her makeup. She tip-toed out of the house so she wouldn't wake up her parents. Her mother was a model and her dad was a scientist. They both worked very hard all day, and deserved a good night's sleep. Rouge walked to her white Cadillac and stopped to admire it. It was much better than Amy's pink sedan or Cream's peach bug. It was even better than Sonic's blue mustang. Feeling proud of her car, Rouge hopped inside and ran her hand across the dashboard.

"Pure gold," escaped her lips and she pulled out of the driveway.

As she was pulling out, she heard a crack outside and the car stopped. "Crap," she said. "Let's see what I ran over."

She stepped out of the car and walked over to the back tire. There was glass all over, and the tire was flat. "Oh no, one of Dad's test tubes," she said nervously. "He must have dropped it when he got home. And now I've got a flat."

She looked at her watch. It read 7:00. "Damn, I'm gonna be late!"

Rouge bit her lip, and turned to the garage. "I know, I'll just use Mom's Cadillac."

Fortunately, Rouge's mother also drove a white Cadillac. Rouge went to the garage and grabbed her mother's keys. She got in the car, pulled out of the garage, and sped down the street.

She glanced at the built in clock. "7:05…I can still make it!"

She drove in before the gate closed and parked in a spot marked "reserved". She looked in the mirrors, combed her hair, and touched up her makeup, then slowly opened the door and stepped out of her mom's stylish prize.

"Hey, look! Rouge is here!" Sonic said, and the group turned, smiles on their faces.

"Hi, Rouge!" Cream said cheerfully.

"Where were you? It's 7:15 already!" Amy scolded.

"I got a flat," Rouge said, not mentioning that the beauty she had arrived in was her mother's.

"That's terrible," Tails commented. "Were you able to fix it?"

"Of course she was, Tails," Amy said. "She drove in it, didn't she?"

"I guess you're right," Tails said, and put his hands in his pockets.

Just then, a black sports car parked in the space next to Rouge's. They all turned their heads as a black hedgehog with red highlights stepped out of the car.

"I've never seen him here before," Cream whispered to Amy. "Is he lost?"

"I don't know, but he's cute," Amy replied, not taking her eyes off the smoking hot hedgehog.

"Is this Station Square Highschool?" he asked in a deep, sexy voice.

"This is it," Amy answered.

He looked at Amy, confused.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Amy Rose."

"Pleased to meet you," he said as he shook her hand. "I'm Shadow."

Amy blushed as Shadow turned to Sonic and Tails.

"I'm Sonic."

"I'm Tails."

"And I'm Knuckles," Knuckles said, shoving the other two aside. 'If you want a tour of the school, I'm your guy."

"Thank you," Shadow said. "I would appreciate that."

"I'm Cream, and this is Rouge," said the little rabbit.

Shadow looked at Rouge and she crossed her arms.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Shadow said, and Rouge looked away.

He turned back to everyone else. "I guess I'll see you later," he said, and walked off.

"Did you see that?" Amy screeched. "And he touched my hand!"

"What are you doing, guys?" Rouge shouted. "He's a new kid!"

"So?" Sonic said.

"So, the most popular group in the school doesn't talk to newcomers!" Rouge was clearly furious with them.

"Why does it matter?" Knuckles asked.

"Because, if we greet newcomers with open arms every time one shows up, the other kids won't think we're cool anymore," Rouge explained. "They'll think we're not picky enough!"

"Well, it is nice to be popular," tails said, and stood next to Rouge. "I'm with Rouge."

"Me too," Amy said, and joined Tails.

"Well, we're not," Sonic said, Knuckles and Cream standing behind him. "We like the guy."

"And it's not right to be mean to someone just because you're worried about your popularity slipping," Cream added.

"Fine then! We'll just go our separate ways! Goodbye, Sonic!" Amy said, and followed Rouge and Tails inside.

Sonic glanced at his watch. "It's 7:30. We'd better get to class."

'That bastard!' Rouge thought as she took notes. 'How dare he come to our school and think he'll fit in with the popular group! I bet he's screwin' with us, being all sweet and innocent, then, when he's got our trust, he'll start acting like his real self, wanting to be treated like a fucking prince!'

"Rouge?" the teacher called. "What's wrong? You seem to be upset."

"What?" Rouge said, her cheeks turning pink. "Oh, nothing…"

"All right," he said, turning back to the board.

Rouge continued taking notes, embarrassed about being called out in front of the whole class. She knew that they must have been laughing at her in their minds, although no one in the school would dare laugh at the most popular girl at Station Square High. She vowed to herself then that she would keep control of her emotions from now on.

"That Shadow! Who does he think he is?" Amy whispered to Tails. "And to think I liked him!"

"Him and Sonic, Knuckles, and Cream are gonna slow us down," Tails whispered back. "We can't hang out with them anymore; we'll stay with Rouge from this point on until the others come to their senses."

The teacher walked up to their desks, a slightly annoyed look on her face. "Amy, Tails, you know there is no talking allowed in my classroom," she said rather loudly. "See me after class…Both of you."

"Yes, ma'am," Amy and Tails responded in unison.

They looked at each other, knowing that they would be staying after class for a long while. Mrs. Gargy did not play games; she was very strict and severe with her punishments. Even some of the other teachers were scared of her—even Mr. Carinsky, the toughest teacher of them all! His most popular excuse for being afraid of her was that she reminds him of his mother. Amy and Tails always wondered how a tough guy like that was still being controlled by his mom.

"Hey, Knux, why do you think Rouge doesn't like that new guy?" Sonic whispered to Knuckles.

"No clue," Knuckles replied.

"She's usually cool about stuff like this," Sonic added.

"Yeah, I don't know what's gotten into her," Knuckles said. "Maybe she's jealous."

"Rouge? _Jealous_?" Sonic replied. "There's no way Rouge could be jealous of anyone."

"hey, it's possible," Knuckles pointed out. "After all, we greeted Shadow pretty warmly."

"I guess so—but it still doesn't make any sense…" Sonic said. 'Rouge…Jealous…But why? Could it be? Naw…Not jealous…Not _Rouge_…'

'I gotta admit, I started off pretty good at this school,' Shadow thought. 'The guys I met got style, and the girls were pretty cute. Especially that bat girl; although, I think she has something against me. Other than that, I'm starting off on the right foot.'

Suddenly, a neatly folded piece of paper flew onto his desk. He looked over at Cream, and she smiled real big. He gently unfolded the paper and read the note.

_Shadow,_

_If you wanna meet some cute girls, I can introduce you to my girl friends. They are really looking forward to meeting you._

—_Cream_

Shadow looked over at Cream again; she smiled just a cute little smile this time. He smiled back at her and nodded.

'So far, so good,' he thought.


	2. Shadow's Lunch

For lunch, the group sat separately. Rouge, Amy, and Tails sat on one table, Sonic and Knuckles sat at another table. Cream came with her plate, her girl friends trailing behind, and they all sat by Shadow.

"Hi, Shadow," Cream said. "These are my girl friends I was telling you about. They're just dying to meet you."

"I'm honored," Shadow said very formally.

"He's such a gentlemen!" said a blonde bunny with green eyes, wearing a pink dress.

"That's Cindy," Cream said.

"Nice to meet you," Shadow said to her.

"And this is Tia, Claire, and Roxi."

"I'm Tia," said the chipmunk. She had brown hair, brown eyes, and wore a black and turquoise skin-tight suit.

"A pleasure to meet you," Shadow said, and kissed her hand.

"I'm Claire," came from a purple rabbit with blue eyes, and wearing a long yellow dress.

"I like your eyes," Shadow commented, and Claire giggled.

"And I'm Roxi," said a black hedgehog with red highlights, her hair long a straight down, with purple eyes, and wearing a white and purple cheerleading outfit.

"You're colors are lovely," Shadow told her, admiring the combination of black and red and white and purple.

Just then, a beautiful white bat walked in. She was wearing a blue tube top and long black pants, along with black boots covered in rhinestones. Her eyes were a glistening violet, and her lips were as red as rubies. She was the very image of beauty.

"Who is that?" Shadow asked.

"That is Linda," Cream answered. "Funny, she doesn't usually put on that color lipstick."

"She usually wears purple," Claire added.

"I wonder if she's trying to impress someone," said Cindy.

"Let's just pray she doesn't see Shadow," Roxi whispered to Tia.

Linda walked right passed them, as if they weren't there. She headed straight for a table where two young male echidnas were sitting. One was white with purple eyes and an orange flame marking his chest. The other was dark red, with green eyes, and a diamond marking on his chest.

"Who are they?" Shadow asked.

"The white one's Leo, and the red one's Jim," Cream answered. "Linda flirts with them a lot."

"But they never seem to be interested in her," said Claire. "The poor thing."

"Hi, boys," Linda said to the echidnas. "How are you?"

"We're fine," Leo said.

"Oh, uh, I think I hear Coach calling," Jim said, and slapped Leo's arm with the back of his hand.

"Oh, yeah, I uh, hear him, too," Leo said.

They both grabbed their plates and headed off. Suddenly, Shadow spotted Knuckles get up and walk over to Linda.

"Uh oh, disaster is about to strike," Roxi commented.

"Hey, Linda," Knuckles said, and put his arm around Linda's shoulder.

"What do you want?" Linda said, plucking his arm off of her shoulder.

"You know what I want," Knuckles said. "Give me your number and we'll discuss our terms."

"What terms?" Linda asked.

Knuckles then whispered something into Linda's ear, and the next sound they heard was Linda's hand making hard contact with Knuckles' face.

"PERVERT!" Linda screamed, and stormed off.

Apparently, Knuckles had something sexually offensive.

"Damn, that bitch can slap hard!" Knuckles exclaimed.

Across the cafeteria, Sonic burst out laughing. Soon, enough, he had the whole cafeteria laughing, even if they didn't know what was going on. The bell rang, and everyone went back to the hallways to get books from their lockers for the next class. So far, this was one hell of a day for Shadow.

As Shadow was walking to his locker, he felt a hand on shoulder. He turned and saw Knuckles standing there with a big grin on his face.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Shadow said back.

"Today, I'm gonna teach you about girls," Knuckles said, and leaned on Shadow.

"I think I already know enough about girls," Shadow said.

"But you don't know about points," Knuckles told him.

"Points?"

"Oh yeah," Knuckles said. "You see, each girl is worth a certain amount of points."

"That's kind of offensive, don't you think?" Shadow commented.

"Whatever," Knuckles said, a little bit annoyed. "Okay, you see that one?"

Knuckles pointed to a blonde cat with pink eyes, short hair, and wearing a tank top and a mini skirt.

"She's worth 20 points," Knuckles said. "Each girl can be worth up to 50 points. After 50, they're considered a Jackpot."

He continued pointing out girls. "That one's 20 pints…She's 30 points…Over there is 15 points…Yikes, 5 points…Ooo, redhead; 40 points *wink*."

Shadow held on the every word Knuckles said, and made not of how to determine how many points a girl was worth—which later he told himself was extremely idiotic.

"Now, Rouge and Linda are Jackpots," Knuckles informed him. "Jackpots are the most beautiful, but I must warn you, they're the hardest to score with. So watch out. The uglier they are, the more desperate they are."

Shadow nodded.

"Ok, now you try," Knuckles said.

He pointed to a pink echidna with glasses, yellow eyes, a long-sleeved shirt, and a knee-length skirt. "Tell me how much she's worth."

"Um…10 points?" Shadow guessed.

"Correct!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Now, a harder one."

He scanned the area. Soon, his eyes fell on a black bat with purple eye shadow, blue eyes, a red low-cut sleeveless shirt, a black mini skirt, and black stilettos.

"That one?" he said, looking her up and down.

"Hmmm…45 points?" Shadow tried on that one.

"Wrong," Knuckles said. "She's actually 50 points. If she had a jacket, covering her chest, then she's be 45 points. Excuse me for a second."

Knuckles walked over to the bat and started talking to her. A moment later, the bat giggled, handed him a slip of paper, and walked off. Knuckles walked back toward Shadow, grinning.

"I got her number," he said, and waved the slip of paper. "It takes a certain amount of charm and skill to get a girl's number."

Suddenly, a purple female fox approached Shadow.

"Hi there," she said. "I haven't seen you around here before."

"I'm new here," Shadow replied.

"Well, if you ever need any help getting around, you can find me in the gym," she said, and handed him a slip of paper with her phone number on it. "Call me."

She turned and walked off. Shadow turned back to Knuckles and smiled.

"I wonder what charm and skill I used to get _her_ number," he said, feeling superior.

"You just got lucky," Knuckles said—obviously upset—and walked away.

Shadow chuckled. Things are going all right.


	3. Rouge and Chip

"Stupid…Bitchy…New boy!" Rouge exclaimed as she grabbed books from her locker.

She yanked her history book out of her locker and it slipped out of her hands.

"Shit!" she yelled, looking at the book on the floor, and slammed her locker door shut.

A nearby tiger heard her, and turned around. He walked over to Rouge, wo was kneeling on the floor.

"Need any help with your book?" he asked her.

"Sure," Rouge replied, and grabbed three of her books. "Thanks, Chip."

"No problem, Rouge," Chip said, and picked up the other three books.

He looked at Rouge and smiled. Rouge looked up and caught his gaze.

"What?" she said, smiling.

"Nothing," Chip said. "…Rouge…How do you feel about me?"

"You're my friend, of course," Rouge said.

"Just friend, right?"

"Huh?" Rouge was confused. "Yeah."

"Well, I have a plan," he told her. "You know how Linda's been chasing Jim and Leo? Well, she's secretly been chasing me, too. And I'm telling you, it's driving me nuts!"

"So, what's your plan?" Rouge asked.

"Well, I was thinking that you could pretend to be my girlfriend," Chip answered. "Just to get Linda off my back."

"Chip, this isn't going to work."

"What makes you so sure?" Chip asked. "We're both single. Everyone would fall for it."

"Exactly."

"What's wrong?"

"I've been trying to get Knuckles to realize that I like him," Rouge explained. "But I want him to ask me out so he won't freak. He does that if someone tells him they like him."

"Well, you know Knuckles; he won't stop going after someone even if they're taken," Chip assured her. "He'll flirt with you even if he thinks we're together."

"Well…I guess so…" Rouge said. "But only because I hate Linda."

'Just because Knuckles flirted with Linda, Rouge hates her,' Chip thought. 'Even though _Knuckles_ flirted with _Linda_, not the other way around.'

Suddenly, Rouge hugged Chip. He was confused.

"Um, Rouge?" Chip said. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Rouge answered. "It's just…Ever since that new kid showed up here, our group has been split up. Amy and Tails hang out, Sonic and Knuckles are there for each other, Cream has all her friends…And I'm all alone. We all went our separate ways. And then, Knuckles started going after Linda."

Chip gently made Rouge unhug him.

"How was Shadow the cause of your group's breakup?" he asked.

"Well, me, Amy, and Tails didn't like him because he would make our popularity slip; and Sonic, Knuckles, and Cream liked him because of their soft, mushy hearts that make them welcome every new kid that shows up here," Rouge explained. "I guess I'm just kind of depressed about it."

"I'm sorry," Chip said. "I can't imagine how you feel."

"Oh, Chip," Rouge said, and hugged him again. She hugged him tight as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"It's ok, Rouge," Chip assured her, and patted her back.

They hugged for a little while longer, then Rouge let go.

"You better?" Chip asked.

"Yeah," Rouge replied, and wiped the tears away. "Thanks for understanding."

"No problem," Chip said, smiling. "Now let's get going. We'll be late for class."

Shadow got to his next class, which was French, and looked around. People were rushing into the classroom, picking seats next to their friends. Suddenly, he was knocked to the ground. He sat up and saw a white hedgehog standing in front of him, holding out his hand.

"Hey, sorry about that, bro," he said, smiling.

Shadow took his hand and stood up. "It's ok."

"I'm Silver," the hedgehog said.

"Shadow," said Shadow, and then shook the hand that had helped him.

"Hey, Silver, I found the perfect seats for…"

Shadow looked behind Silver and saw a purple cat standing there. She had a red jewel on her forehead and purple tips on her ponytail. She had yellow eyes and wore a long-sleeve purple shirt, a gold necklace, white pants, and pink heels with a stripe down the side.

"Hello," Shadow said.

"Hi," said the cat, and held out her hand. "I'm Blaze."

"Shadow," Shadow repeated as he shook her hand.

Then, the cat turned to Silver. "C'mon, Silv. I see the French teacher coming."

Silver followed Blaze inside, as did Shadow. He quickly found a seat next to the two of them. Then, Amy walked in and sat in the empty desk next to Shadow. She looked over at him and smiled.

"Hi, Shadow," she greeted. "I'm glad we have this class together."

"Why?" Shadow asked.

"'Cause Rouge doesn't want me around you, and I'm really attracted to you," she answered.

A cold shiver ran down Shadow's spine. Now that he got a good look at her, she wasn't all that attractive.

"Although, I'm still stuck on Sonic, so you don't have to worry about me stealing your heart just yet," she added, and winked at him.

Another shiver ran through his body.

Just then, the teacher walked in. "Simmer down, children."

She passed out papers that were written entirely in French to everyone.

"Now, children," she said, "I have passed out a worksheet written entirely in French. I assume that you know some French already, so I will just give you the instructions. On each line next to each sentence, you are to write what the sentence says in English. You will be graded on this."

"Crap," Shadow whispered. "I'm terrible at French."

"Really? I know a lot of French," Blaze said to Shadow. "My mom has been teaching me French ever since I could talk."

"Great, so you could help me" Shadow said, beaming.

"Better yet, you could just copy my paper," Blaze said, and handed Shadow her completed sheet.

Shadow looked at it, confused for a second, and then smiled.

"Thanks," he said, and started copying her answers.

The rest of the class went smoothly. Blaze let Shadow copy all her answers and the teacher didn't even notice. The only bad thing about the class was that Amy was constantly sending him texts about Sonic and why he was so awesome. Shadow just hoped that he didn't have any more classes with her.

On his way out, he ran into Rouge and Chip. Rouge had her arms wrapped around Chip's arm and that had disappointed Shadow. He was really into Rouge, and was hoping to get together with her later—despite her hatred of him.

"Oh…Um…Hi, Rouge," Shadow said, and put his arm behind his head.

"Hello, you," Rouge said, and turned her head away from him.

"Um…I couldn't help but notice that you and…Whoever that is…Are very close," Shadow said.

"So?" Rouge said, annoyed. "What's it to you?"

"Oh, uh…It's just…"

"What? Spit it out!" Rouge shouted rather loudly.

Just then, the bell rang. Shadow let out a sigh of relief and Rouge glared at him.

"Come on, Chip. Let's go," Rouge commanded.

"Oh yeah, I'm Chip, by the way," Chip called to Shadow as they turned the corner.

Shadow felt bad. To think that such a cute—scratch that, _beautiful_—girl hated him and was dating another guy. It broke Shadow's heart into tiny pieces.

"I guess I'd better get going," he said sadly to himself, and slowly made his way to the next class.


	4. Chip's Old Friend

`As Rouge and Chip turned the corner, they saw Linda rummaging through her locker. Rouge turned to Chip.

"Hurry, kiss me!" she said, and kissed Chip.

Chip knew what she was doing, and so he played along. Linda noticed them and closed her locker. She walked by them, books in her hands, and stopped.

"I see you two have become close friends," she said calmly, and walked off.

"It didn't work," Chip commented.

"Yes it did," Rouge told him. "She's totally jealous."

"How can you tell?" Chip asked.

"She was way too calm about it," Rouge explained. "It's so obvious that she's jealous."

"Well, we'd better head to the next class," Chip said to her.

"I guess so," Rouge said back. "See you later, Chip."

Rouge walked away, and Chip stood there a while longer. He had never thought about kissing Rouge before, but now that he had experienced it, he wanted it to happen again. He sighed and went on to his next class.

Chip got to his math class and found a seat next to Cream. Cream looked over at him and noticed that he was looking a little down.

"What's wrong, Chip?" she asked. "Are you sad?"

"What?" Chip said, and looked over at Cream. "Oh, it's nothing."

Cream looked back at her desk. Then, Linda entered the classroom; she started looking around.

'Please don't sit next to me,' Chip thought, and crossed his fingers. '_Please_ don't sit next to me.'

Linda spotted one of her friends and sat next to her. Chip let out a sigh of relief.

'Thank God she didn't see me,' Chip thought. 'The only other thing I hate about this class is that Rouge isn't here.'

Rouge had P.E, along with Amy, Tails, Leo, Jim, and Knuckles. Each week, they worked on a different sport—this week, it was basketball, which Rouge hated because every time she jumped to make a shot, Knuckles hooted. So she usually just sat on the bench and watched the others play.

But today, Leo and Jim were hogging the basketballs; though it didn't matter, because they made every shot. Knuckles was good, too, but not like Leo and Jim. It really impressed Rouge.

"Man, why do those guys always have to show off?" Knuckles commented.

"They're really good, Knux," Rouge replied.

Knuckles looked at the bat, anger in his eyes. "They're good at everything! Baseball, football, soccer…Everything!"

"Don't be such a hothead," Rouge said.

Knuckles glared at her. "Don't be such a bitch."

"Geez, touchy," she said to herself as Knuckles walked to another bench.

Then, Leo and Jim walked over to Rouge. Their rock hard bodies were shining from all the sweat and they had pride written all over their faces. Jim tied his blood-colored dreadlocks in a ponytail and Leo ran a hand through his snow-colored ones.

"Hello, Rouge," Jim said.

"What's up, guys?" Rouge said. She was getting sweaty just from looking at them.

"We were wondering if you'd like to go on a triple date," Leo suggested.

Now Rouge was really interested. "A triple date?"

"Yeah, at the Good Eats restaurant," Jim replied. "Me and Jessica, Leo and Veronica, and you and Chip."

"Actually, I'm…" Rouge began, but was interrupted by the bell ringing.

"Time for the next class," Jim said. "Meet me and Leo outside Good Eats at 6."

With that, the boys walked off, Rouge not knowing if she should tell them that her and Chip weren't really dating.

She sighed. "Oh well, I'd better focus on school for now."

Chip was headed to his locker, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey, Chip!"

He turned around and saw an old friend. A smile appeared on his face. "What's up, Nick?"

Nick was a dark blue bat with yellow eyes and a fabulous smile. His shoulder-length hair was combed and his bangs covered his left eye. He wore a white muscle shirt, black jeans, and white and black sneakers.

"It's been a long time since I last saw you," he said.

"Three years, to be exact," Chip corrected, and Nick snickered.

"You still got that spark."

Chip chuckled. He looked to the left of him, and noticed a female gothic hedgehog watching him. She quickly looked away when Chip saw her. Nick saw what had happened and stepped closer to Chip.

"Go talk to her," he said, and nudged Chip.

"What?" Chip commented. "Why?"

"She's checking you out," Nick told him. "You don't want her to disappoint her, do you?"

"Fine, if you'll get off my back, I'll talk to her," Chip said, frustrated.

Chip walked over to the hedgehog. "Hi."

She looked at him with no expression at all. "Hi."

"How're you doin'?"

She didn't respond.

"Well, uh, you're kinda cute, you know?" Chip told her, trying to get her to show any feelings at all.

She narrowed her eyes and stepped toward Chip. She put her hands on the sides of his face and brought her lips to his. A moment later she broke the kiss and looked into his eyes.

"Consider that a warning," she said.

She then turned and walked to another locker further down the hallway. Chip stood there for a bit, his eyes wide. Nick walked up to him.

"Dude, what the fuck was that?" he said.

"I don't know," Chip answered, and shook his head.

Nick waked toward the goth girl and leaned on the locker. Chip overheard the conversation.

"You know, you're pretty cute," Nick said.

Suddenly, the girl turned to Nick and slapped him.

"Consider that a warning," she said, grabbed her books, and walked away.

Nick walked to Chip, his hand on his cheek. "Ok, what the fuck was _that_?"

Chip chuckled. The bell rang, and Chip grabbed his books. "Well, I'll see you later, Nick."

"It was nice seeing you again, Chocolate Chip," Nick said, and walked away.

'Chocolate Chip,' Chip thought. 'Three years and he still calls me that.'

He chuckled again and headed down the hall to his next class.


	5. DateTalk

Shadow was doodling Rouge in his notebook. He looked at it and added Chip next to her. Afterwards he sighed and crumpled the paper; he tossed it in his desk. Linda was in the seat next to him and noticed what he did. She smiled a sly smile as she got an idea. She leaned in next to him.

"I can get your mind off that girl," she said.

Shadow looked at her, slightly interested. "How?"

"How about we go on a date?" she suggested.

"Meet me at the Good Eats restaurant at 6."

The bell rang, and everyone packed up to go back to homeroom. Shadow glanced at the clock, with read 2:00. Linda started packing up; Shadow slowly grabbed his books and lifted his bag. They stood up and slung their bags over their shoulders.

"See you in homeroom," Linda said to Shadow, and walked down the hall with one of her friends.

Shadow left the classroom and headed down the hall to his homeroom class at his own pace.

Rouge was doodling hearts in her notebook, Amy was doodling Sonic in hers, and Tails was studying. Rouge thought about Jim and Leo's offer, and wondered if she should tell Chip.

'I'm not really going out with him, but then again, it would be so nice to go on a triple date. But what if they want me to kiss Chip?' Rouge kept pondering about the date, and finally decided that she was going.

Meanwhile, Shadow and Linda were passing notes back and forth to each other. They wrote about Rouge and Chip, and even the date. Linda mentioned how weird it would be if they saw Rouge and Chip there, and Shadow told her not to jinx it. They had no idea what was going on inside Rouge and Chip's mind.

The bell finally rang at 2:30. Everyone started packing up to go home. Chip grabbed his bag and headed for the door. Once in the hallway, he leaned against the wall. He looked around and spotted Rouge. She came to him.

"Chip, I have to tell you something," she said. "Leo and Jim asked me to go with you on a triple date. And I accepted."

"Ok, so where are we going/?" Chip asked.

"Good Eats at 6," Rouge answered.

"Great," Chip said. "That'll give me time to eat, take a nap, and then get ready."

"Yeah, so I'll see you there," Rouge said, and turned to walk away.

"Actually, I'll be picking you up," Chip said. "After all, it is polite for the guy to pick up his date."

"All right, Mr. Polite," Rouge said.

They shared a chuckle, and then headed to their cars.

Shadow and Linda exited the classroom together. They stood beside each other, not saying anything. Then, Shadow turned to Linda. "So, I'll pick you up at 6?"

"Sure," Linda said. "See you then, hot stuff."

They left the building and went to their cars. Linda hopped in her purple convertible and sped out of the parking lot. Shadow was about to get into his car when he saw Rouge's white Cadillac pull out of the lot. He watched as she drove away, then left in his own ride.

Rouge parked her mother's car in the garage and returned the keys to their spot on the key holder. She went outside and closed the garage, then thought to herself, 'Good thing Mom was off today.'

She turned to go through the front door, and realized that the flat tire on her car was no longer flat.

"Mom," she said as she put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

She chuckled on her way to the door. The first thing she saw when she opened the door was her father putting on hi lab coat.

"Hi, Dad," she greeted, and gave him a hug.

"Hi, sweetie." He finished putting on his coat and went to find his boots.

Rouge went into the kitchen, where she knew her mother would be. And sure enough, sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hand, was Rouge's mother.

"Hello, darling," her mother greeted.

Rouge grabbed some cereal and milk.

"So, do you have anything special planned, or are you just going to pass out on the couch watching TV?" her mother asked mockingly.

"No, today I have plans," Rouge said back. "I'm going out at 6."

'You have _another _date?"

"Only this one isn't really my boyfriend," Rouge said. "We're only pretending to be together so a girl will stop stalking him."

"So who's the boy?" her mother asked, and took a sip of he coffee.

"His name is Chip," Rouge answered. "You don't know him, but he's a good friend of mine. He's picking me up."

"Oh really? What does he drive?"

"A red motorcycle with orange and yellow hot rod flames," Rouge answered, and finished her bowl of cereal.

She washed her bowl and spoon, then walked over to the doorway.

"I hope he drives ok," her mother commented.

"I know, I know, slow and safe," Rouge said, moving her head from side to side and rolling her eyes. "You worry about me too much, Mom."

Her father returned to the main room, and Rouge gave him a big hug.

"Bye, Dad."

"Bye, pumpkin," he said, and kissed her forehead.

He left out the door and Rouge headed upstairs.

"Where are you going?" her mother called.

"I'm going to take a nap," Rouge replied. "Don't wanna be tired when my date gets here."

"Oh, and Mom," Rouge said down the stairs. "Thanks for fixing my tire."

"Your welcome, sweetie."

With that, Rouge headed to her room. Rouge's mother had been a mechanic in her teen years, and her skills can really come in handy from time to time.

Chip got home and headed straight for his room. On his way there, he tried not to be noticed by his mother, but it was too late.

"Where the hell do you think you're _going_?" she asked bitterly.

"I'm going to bed," Chip responded.

"Why?"

"Just shut up, Mom!" Chip shouted and ran into his room.

He slammed the door.

"Geez, you ask one mother fucking question and he blows up atcha!" his mother said to herself as she lit a cigarette.

Chip lied on his bed, angrily staring at the ceiling. Then he turned over and looked at the picture of his dad. He was wearing an army outfit and cap—he was saluting.

Chip's father had joined the army and gone into war. He died, and when Chip heard the news, he was devastated. He was only 8, and the event had turned his mother into a horrible woman.

When Chip was little, his mother was beautiful in every way. Her smile, her voice, her personality. But all that changed when they heard about Chip's father. She started drinking and smoking, and God knows what else. Chip had loved her with all his heart, but when she changed, he could barely stand to look at her anymore.

A tear rolled down Chip's cheek as he dusted off the picture. It was the only one Mother allowed him to have, since she didn't want to be reminded of what she had turned into.

"If only you were still alive," he said to the picture. 'I miss you so much…"


	6. The Triple Date

Rouge woke up at 5:00. She turned over and looked at the clock.

"Oh, shit!" she said as she jumped out of bed.

She went to her closet and looked through her outfits. She finally found a purple dress that ended right above the knees. It was skin-tight mostly, but was loose at the very bottom.

"Perfect," she said as she grabbed the dress, a purple hand purse, and purple high heels.

She quickly got dressed, then went to do her makeup. She came down the stairs and made herself a cup of coffee. She finished it and looked at the clock.

"5:43," she said, and decided she was going to go to the bathroom before Chip got there.

After the bathroom, she touched up her makeup and went downstairs. She ran out the door. She waited on the sidewalk of her street and waited for Chip. She straightened out her dress and adjusted her shoe straps. Just then, she saw the headlights of a motorcycle and a smile appeared on her face.

The motorcycle stopped—the side turned to Rouge—and there sat the handsome tiger himself. He was wearing a black shirt with a white long-sleeved undershirt, black pants, and black and white boots.

"Hop on, Ms. Bat," he said.

Rouge smiled at him and got on behind him, then they drove away in style.

Linda had dressed in a long white dress and white wedges. Shadow pulled up in his black sports car and rolled down the window. Linda smiled a sly smile and put her hand on her hip.

"Nice ride," she complimented.

'Thanks, get in," Shadow said, a smile on his face.

Linda hopped in and they sped away from the house.

It was just starting to get dark. Chip's motorcycle, Jim's large truck, and Leo's mustang pulled up at Good Eats almost at the exact same time. Jim, Leo, and their girlfriends got out of their rides. They walked over to Rouge and Chip.

"Jessica, this is Rouge and Chip," Jim told his date.

"They're a lot like how you described them," she said as she shook their hands.

Rouge and Chip couldn't tell if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult.

"Veronica, these are my friends, Rouge and Chip," Leo said.

"Ooo, la la, Chip is so handsome," she said in her bubbly French accent. "And your name is French, no?"

"Uh, yes?" Rouge responded.

Veronica giggled.

Chip got a good look at Veronica and Jessica. Jessica—who was an echidna—was wearing a red shirt with a pink mini skirt, a blue jacket, and blue go-go boots. Her purple hair was braided, and she was wearing blue contact lenses.

Veronica—a hedgehog—was wearing a white and black striped skin-tight mini dress with a white spaghetti-strap purse and black high heels. Her blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail and she was also wearing contacts, except hers were purple.

And Rouge got a good look at the boys. Jim was wearing a green shirt that matched his emerald eyes, blue jeans which were ripped on one knee, and red sneakers, which matched his maroon hair color.

Leo wore a black T-shirt, white jeans which matched his snow colored hair, and blue sneakers. Even though they weren't dressed very formally, they both still looked quite handsome.

Suddenly, a black sports car pulled up. Rouge looked over at it; something was familiar about it, she just didn't know what. Then, a black hedgehog stepped out of it. It was none other than Shadow.

He was wearing a white shirt, red pants, and his usual skates. Even though Rouge hated him, there was something simply stunning about him. Something not even _Rouge _could ignore.

Then, _she _stepped out of the car, came around, and slipped her arms around Shadow's arm. Rouge's eyes got wide with surprise. Shadow and Linda walked into the restaurant, not even stopping to say hi.

Rouge watched them, and felt a bit of jealousy come over her. Was she _jealous_ of _Linda_?

She didn't know, but all she could do was go into the restaurant, try to have a good time, and hope that everything goes well.

The six of them went inside and reached the seater. Chip stepped up to him. "Table for six, please."

"Do you have a reservation?"

"Yeah, just look under Tiger, Chip."

"Ah, yes, here is your party's reservation," he said, his bony finger on Chip's group. "Right this way."

They followed the seater to a table that just happened to be by the table Shadow and Linda were sitting at. The only thing that separated them was a booth seat.

"Um, do you maybe have a different table?" Rouge asked him.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but this is the only six-person table available," he replied, and left them.

They took their seats and grabbed the menus. The only one who didn't search the menu were Jim and Leo. Rouge put down her menu. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"We've been here a dozen times," Leo answered. "We already know what we want."

Just then, the waitress came by. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yeah, me and him will have steaks, mine with sauce, his without," Jim said, his arm resting on Jessica's shoulder.

The waitress wrote down their order, then turned to Rouge and Chip. "And what would you like to order?"

"I'll just have a salad," Rouge said. "Put whatever you want on it. I don't care."

"And I'll have a cheeseburger," Chip said. "Extra cheese."

"And we'll have salads with cucumbers, black olives, and Italian dressing," Jessica said.

The waitress wrote down all of their orders. "All right. It might take a while, so someone will come by with the appetizers."

Chip started talking with the boys, and Rouge overheard Shadow ordering.

"…With extra pickles," he said.

"And I'll just have water," Linda said.

The waiter walked away and Shadow looked at Linda. "How come you didn't get any food?"

"I don't need food when I'm with you," Linda replied. "Because you are all I need."

Rouge rolled her eyes as Linda wrapped her arms around Shadow's biceps. Linda was sly and clever, and she could sense that Rouge was jealous.

'She can try and hide it all she wants,' Linda thought, 'But I know she's jealous.'

After dinner, Rouge and Chip stood outside with the others to say good-bye.

"Thanks for inviting us on a date," Rouge said.

"It was no trouble at all," Jim insisted.

Just then, Linda shoved past them, Shadow following. She passed Rouge and shot her an evil look. Shadow passed her and looked her in the eye. Rouge looked back at him, and felt as if time was standing still. As if Shadow could control the flow of time and wanted to saver this moment. Her heart started beating faster as she watched him walk to his car.

When she turned back to her friends, she realized that they had been watching her. Her whole face turned pink. "What?"

"I think _someone's_ crushing on Shadow," Jim teased.

"Shut up, Jim!" Rouge shouted. "Who could ever be crushing on that _loser_?"

"Hey, calm down, Rouge," Leo eased.

"Yeah, there's no reason to get mad," Chip added, and put his hand on her shoulder.

She shook it off. "Come on, Chip. We're leaving."

She got on the back seat of Chip's motorcycle and put on one of the helmets. Chip sat on the front seat and waved to Jim and Leo.

"See you guys later," he said, and drove off.

Shadow arrived at Linda's house and dropped her off. He rolled down the indow as she faced his car.

"I really had fun tonight," Linda said.

"I'm glad," Shadow replied.

"Good night," Linda said, and kissed his cheek.

Shadow froze for a second, then seemed shocked.

"By the way, are you still thinking about that girl?" Linda asked him, twirling her hair with her finger.

Shadow blinked. "Um, no…"

"Good," Linda said, and smiled.

Shadow rolled up the window and Linda waved to him as he drove away.

Chip stopped in front of Rouge's house and dropped her off.

"Hey, Rouge," he started. "Is what Jim said true? Are you really crushing on Shadow?"

Rouge looked at him—she didn't know if she was more angry or shocked.

"How can you ask me that? Why would you think that? Why would you even _consider_ thinking that?"

"Well…I, uh…"

"No! I hate him! And I always will!" Rouge yelled, and stormed off into her house.

Chip sat there, helmet in his hands, speechless about what just happened. A moment later, he shook his head and put his helmet on. He then drove away, thinking about Rouge's feelings.


	7. Rouge's Confused Mind

The next morning, Rouge walked down the hall alone, ignoring anyone who tried to talk to her. Shadow had been talking with Knuckle and Sonic when he noticed Rouge was alone.

'She looks so sad,' he thought, feeling sorry for her. "I'll be back, you guys."

Shadow walked up to her. "Hi, Rouge."

She didn't respond.

"You know, I noticed that you're alone."

She glared at him without turning her head.

"And I was wondering if we could hang out later," Shadow suggested, and blushed a little.

Rouge didn't respond. Shadow stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop. She looked at him, death in her eyes.

"Listen," Shadow said, "I know you don't like me, but consider my offer. I'd really like to get to know you better."

Rouge closed her eyes. "Fine…"

"Great!" Shadow said cheerfully. "So, I'll se you at lunch!"

He went back to Knuckles and Sonic. Rouge watched him and her face softened.

'I guess he's not as bad as I thought,' she thought, and smiled.

Then, death turned the corner. It was none other than Linda. She walked up to Shadow and wrapped her arm around his and placed her hand on his chest. Rouge felt her face getting red with rage.

"Hey, baby," she said. "What's up?"

'Hey, Shad, I didn't know you had a girlfriend," Sonic said.

"Yeah, and how'd you get someone as sexy as Linda?" Knuckles asked, jealous.

Rouge felt herself getting more and more angry.

"Guys, guys, she's not my girlfriend…" Shadow said, blushing.

"Oh, I'm not?" Linda said, and let go of Shadow. "But I thought you liked me…"

"No…I mean…Linda…"

"Just forget it," Linda said, and walked away.

"Shadow, how could you do that to her?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, she's one of the hottest chicks in this school!" Knuckles added.

"I, uh…Gotta go," Shadow said, and walked off.

Rouge felt glad that Shadow didn't take Linda as his girlfriend. The bell rang, and she headed to class.

Chip had English for first period, and was sitting next to Knuckles. Knuckles leaned in close to him.

"Hey, I heard from Leo that you and Rouge are going out."

"I only dated her once," Chip said to him. "We're not together."

"So, you broke up?" Knuckles said, confused. "'Cause Leo told me that Rouge told him that you and her were together."

'Oh crap! I forgot we were still playing that charade!' Chip thought. "Um…I'd really like to finish my work before class ends."

"For once, a guy actually _wants_ to finish his work," Knuckles said, and scoffed.

Rouge was in math class, thinking about Shadow. She couldn't believe that he actually walked up to her and requested that she spend some time with him. He had only been there a couple days, and he already had the courage to talk to the most popular girl in school. Rouge had to admit, he's got guts.

"_Listen, I know you don't like me, but consider my offer. I'd really like to get to know you better," _she remembered him saying.

Then she thought about the date, and what went on at the restaurant. Even thought Shadow hadn't talked to her the whole time, she knew that he had wanted to. But he couldn't, for Linda would never let him. If he did talk to Rouge, Linda would badger him until the end of the school year. No matter how much Rouge hated Linda, she had to admit that that girl was clever. She knew just how to make someone jealous, even if they are sure that they would never be jealous of anyone.

And then that corny remark she made after Shadow had ordered: _"I don't need food when I'm with you, because you are all that I need."_ It was so corny, Rouge automatically rolled her eyes again as she thought about it. She didn't think that someone could be so evil. Or _was_ she evil?

She seemed to be making Rouge notice Shadow, so she must want her to like him. But, then again, she could just be taunting her. After all, she did seem to want to make her jealous. She'd make her want Shadow badly, then she'd jerk him back just out of Rouge's reach. Rouge was confused about what Linda really wanted to do; if she _wasn't_ evil and wanted Shadow and Rouge together, or if she _was_ evil and only wanted to make Rouge miserable.

Maybe Linda was jealous because Rouge was more popular than she was. Rouge _was_ rich, and she did have the most popular group in the school. She was the most attractive girl in school; all the boys wanted her. Lots of people were jealous of Rouge—even some guys—but none ever tried to make her feel powerless. That's what Linda wanted, wasn't it? She wanted Rouge to be powerless so that _she _could be the most popular girl in the school. If people saw that Rouge was powerless and miserable, that she wasn't confident, they'd flock away from her. They wouldn't want to be around someone who isn't worth worshipping.

Rouge was so confused about all of this, so she decided not to think about any of this stuff anymore. It was giving her a headache.

Just then, a black bat boy came up to her. "Hey, Rouge, wanna test out my new Nintendo DS?"

"Not right now, Marcus," she replied, and the boy walked away.

A silver hedgehog girl with red streaks in her hair came up to Rouge. "Hey, Rouge, wanna jam out to the tunes on my iPod?"

"No thanks, Silvia," Rouge said, and Silvia went away.

So many people wanted Rouge's attention, but Rouge was too busy thinking about Shadow—about what happened at the restaurant, what he said to her, and the how he turned down Linda.

She started doodling Shadow in her notebook, and by the time she was finished, the teacher said, "All right, children, hand in your math work."

That was when Rouge realized she hadn't done any of the work. She quickly did the assignment, not even checking her answers. The teacher picked up her sheet and Rouge knew she was going to get an F.

'I need to not think about that boy so much,' Rouge thought to herself. 'It's going to cost me my grades.'


	8. Rouge's Disaster Lunch

Rouge walked slowly to lunch, not looking forward to the visit with Shadow. She had no idea what to say to him. She was actually thinking of skipping out on him; but when she saw him sitting with his plate, looking around for her, she just couldn't skip out. She didn't want to do that to him—she _couldn't_. He had been so kind to her. Then, she started thinking about the day Shadow first came to the school. She thought about how much of a bitch she was to him, and how much he didn't deserve it. Now she was making herself feel like crap. She grabbed her plate, got her food, then walked slowly to Shadow's table.

'How could I have been so cruel to him?' she thought. 'He was so nice to me, even though I treated him like shit. I guess my popularity clouded up my mind and didn't allow me to see that he was a really nice guy.'

She stopped and decided to sit at a different table, since she was feeling so down now. Shadow noticed her sit at a different table, and he grabbed his plate and carried it over to where Rouge was sitting.

"Hey," he greeted, smiling.

Rouge just looked at her food. Shadow wiped the smile off his face. How could he get her to fall for him?

"Um, I noticed that you decided not to sit by me."

Rouge closed her eyes, obviously upset. Shadow looked around and saw Chip talking to Sonic and Knuckles. He was making big gestures with his arms and lots of body movements, so Shadow figured he was telling a story. That gave him an idea.

"So, you and Chip seem to be really close," he said to Rouge. "Linda told me that you and him kissed. So, are you two going out?"

Rouge sighed. "No, not really. I'm only pretending to be his girlfriend so that Linda will leave him alone."

'I see," Shadow said, and smiled. This was his chance. "Well, since you two are not dating, how would you like to go out to dinner tonight?"

Rouge looked at him, then looked back at her food. "Sure…I guess so…"

"Great, I'll pick you up at 7," he said happily and went to dump his plate.

Rouge stood up and went to dump her plate as well. Then, disaster. She slipped on a piece of pizza and fell forward onto the floor. The only upside to the moment was that her face didn't fall into the plate. Shadow was standing right by her when it happened, but she fell so fast that he didn't have enough time to catch her. Rouge kept her face down, embarrassed to the fullest extent. She thought for sure that Shadow thought she was a loser now.

He helped her up, and she couldn't bear to look at him. She knew he wouldn't want to go out with her now. There was one thing that helped her to not feel as bad: no one laughed. Why would they? Rouge was the richest, sexiest, most popular girl in the school.

"Are you ok?" came from Shadow.

Rouge looked at him, and her eyes began to water. She couldn't believe that he didn't think she was a loser. She couldn't control herself, and she plowed into Shadow, burying her face into his chest. She had never felt so loved or cared about in her life; Shadow put his arms around her and held her tight.

Everyone continued dumping their plates and left the cafeteria, gossiping to their friends about what happened. Rouge loosened her grip and looked up at Shadow, her eyes sparkling from the tears. He was smiling at her, and his soft red eyes twinkled.

"I'm glad you're ok," he said, and Rouge smiled.

"So, you _don't_ think I'm a loser?" she said back.

Shadow shifted his eyebrows. "Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Well, I _did _just slip on a piece of pizza and fall flat on my face," Rouge said playfully.

Shadow laughed. "Well, That's no loser in _my _book. I make mistakes all the time, and it doesn't bother me the slightest bit.'

"Really? You're really brave," Rouge commented. "I would never be able to live with myself if I made mistakes all the time. I mean, I _am _the most popular girl in school and everyone looks up to me. I have to be a good role model and show them how to be confident and sure of themselves. But I'm so weak right now. I bet some people are already starting to flock away from me. And that's what Linda wants…"

"Wait, what _Linda_ wants?" Shadow started to see how evil Linda was. "Linda's trying to make all of this happen to you so that no one will want to be around you anymore?"

"_She _wants to be the most popular girl in the school," Rouge explained. "We're like rivals, and Linda's the evil one. She's trying to take all of my power, and then she'll use it to make other people's lives miserable—_especially _mine. That's what she's wanted all along. Then you came to the school and—"

"And Linda had the perfect opportunity," Shadow finished. "She knew that you wouldn't be able to resist me, so she used me as a dummy in her ploy to drain you of your power, so to speak. I can't believe she'd _do _something like that. She seemed so nice…"

"That's what she does," Rouge interrupted. "When she meets someone for the first time, she makes them like her, and then she uses them as a part of her evil scheme to make me seem dull. It's been that way ever since the very first day of school. She doesn't care about anyone but herself—and she _definitely_ doesn't care about the people she uses. And she's pretty enough, so she knows she can get away with it. People don't realize that she's just using them; they're so blinded by all the nice things she's said to them, and they don't notice that anything's wrong."

"But _you _would never do something to terrible, right?" Shadow asked. He wanted to make sure that Rouge was ok to be around.

Rouge thought for a moment. "Well, I can't really answer that question. For one, I'm not crazy like Linda is. Also, I don't know what it's like to only be the _second_ most popular girl in the school. _And _I'm not heartless, so I don't know. Maybe if I was all of those things, I would. I would try to make the most popular girl miserable. But, like I said, I'm _not _like that, so it's hard to say."

Shadow looked disappointed. He knew that Rouge meant well, but in the beginning she seemed like she _was _heartless and mean. She didn't treat him like a regular being at all. Only now had he realized that. He wanted to know that Rouge was perfect—he wanted to _hear _it. He wanted to know that she was beautiful, smart, caring, flirty, graceful, and everything in between. He wanted to know that Rouge was the one for him. He knew that she cared about him, but he wasn't sure that she _loved _him yet.

So how could he make that happen? How could he get Rouge to fall in love with him?

He had been sensing that she cared for Knuckles, but now he wasn't feeling it anymore. Maybe she had gotten over him; moved on. Maybe she was just about ready to ask Knuckles out when Shadow walked into her life.

He suddenly wasn't thinking so kindly of himself anymore. He was starting to blame everything on himself, and it was depressing him. He wanted to stop, but he couldn't—his mind wouldn't let him. It just kept blurting out horrible things about him. It just wouldn't stop. He wanted to scream at his mind, force it to stop all of this shit, but he didn't want to alarm Rouge, so he yelled at it inside his head.

In the real world, he seemed like he had blacked out. Rouge shook him a gently.

"Shadow, Shadow? What's wrong, Shadow?" She was a little worried.

Shadow shook his head. "What? Huh? What's going on?"

"Shadow, you looked like you blacked out," Rouge told him, relieved.

"Sorry, Rouge, didn't mean to alarm you," Shadow said, and Rouge smiled. "I assure you I wasn't trying."

"I'm glad," Rouge said, and walked away.

Shadow sighed—Rouge was a woman of such high class. He watched her a little while longer, then went on his way.


	9. The Tough Decision

Shadow was at his locker, when Knuckles suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He leaned on the locker next to Shadow.

"So, I guess you and Rouge hit it off, huh?" he said, a glare in his eyes.

"Um, I guess so." Shadow could tell that Knuckles was upset. "But we're not really _dating_. That moment just kind of…Happened."

"Yeah, right. _Just happened_ my ass," Knuckles commented angrily, and walked away from him.

Shadow watched him go and felt a bit uncomfortable.

'Knuckles seemed really upset,' he thought. 'But I remember what happened my first day. He was so rude to Linda that lunch. I don't want that happening to Rouge. Besides, Rouge really likes me—and I think…I think I may be in love with her…'

He wanted to think more of Rouge and how he thought he was in love with her—all the reasons why—but his thoughts were interrupted by the bell. He quickly grabbed his books, closed his locker, and walked to science class. When he got there, Sonic was waiting for him. He was glad he shared this class with him instead of Amy.

He sat next to Sonic and they talked about girls, video games, cell phones, cars, and movies. Sonic wasn't very much into movies, but he knew a lot of names of shows and who made them. Shadow was glad to be talking to Sonic about these things. He felt he had freedom—something he _didn't _have when he was around girls. Or worse, _Linda_.

The rest of the class went smoothly. The science teacher only gave them one page in the book to work on, and Shadow and Sonic shared answers. Shadow was also glad that Linda wasn't in this class with him. And there were no girls here that were more interested in him than in gossip from their friends; so they just continued talking about celebrity breakups, not once glancing over at Shadow.

After class, Shadow met up with Rouge. "I'm really glad that you agreed to go out with me."

"Really? I thought you were smiling because you got an A on your science project," Rouge teased.

"Oh, don't be like that," Shadow said playfully.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Knuckles leaning against a locker, his arms crossed, his eyes narrowed. He was also frowning, and Shadow knew he was upset—or even mad—at him. Shadow gulped silently and walked along with Rouge until they split to go to different classes.

When Shadow turned the corner, he pressed his back against a locker and sighed with relief that Knuckles couldn't see him. He wiped his forehead; he was sweating. He turned to walk and jumped back at least 3 feet.

"Knuckles! But you were…How did you…" Shadow fumbled with his words as he made confused pointing gestures with his hands and fingers.

Knuckles calmly walked up to him, the death look still on his face. "I have my ways. Now, about Rouge…"

Shadow gulped again. He knew that Knuckles could kill him any moment if he really wanted to. Knuckles lifted up his fist, is if to punch him. Shadow covered his face best he could with his arms and hands. He knew he couldn't run, because if he did, Knuckles would still catch him, and the punishment would be worse than a punch in the face.

Suddenly, Knuckles' head flew off, and Sonic yelled "SURPRISE!"

Shadow looked and saw Sonic standing there in a Knuckles costume, a huge grin on his face. Shadow picked up the head of the costume and studied it. It looked awfully realistic. He looked back at Sonic and his rage filled to the top. He dropped the head and jumped at Sonic.

"YOUR BASTARD!" he yelled. "I thought I was going to get punched in the face by KNUCKLES!"

Sonic realized his mistake and darted away, running at top speed—but Shadow wasn't far behind. They ran all around the school, Sonic trying hard not to knock anything over, Shadow not trying so hard. Every class throughout the school heard them chasing and being chased, and gathered by the doorway of their classes to see the action. Rouge also came in and watched them running around the school—to the 11th grade side, to the 12th grade side, then back to the 10th grade side. She was shocked. How did Shadow ever get so angry? What did Sonic _do _to him?

She couldn't stand another second of this, so she stepped out into the hall, blocking Sonic and Shadow's path. Sonic screeched to a halt, as did Shadow. They were both out of breath and their shoes were worn down.

Shadow was about to beat Sonic, but stopped when he saw the reason why Sonic had halted in the first place. He froze.

'Rouge was watching that whole time?' he thought, turning back to calm Shadow. 'Oh no, that means she thinks I'm insane, or even uncontrollable—so she won't want to go out with me.'

"Rouge, I can explain," he said immediately, shoving past Sonic. "Sonic was pretending to be Knuckles really angry, and he made me think that I was going to be beat up by using a Knuckles costume. But he didn't punch me. Instead, he jumped out of the costume and yelled 'Surprise'. I couldn't believe what he'd done, and that he actually did it. My rage filled to the top and I couldn't get rid of it.'

He avoided using the word "control". By that time he was really out of breath and made his next sentence shorter.

"So I chased Sonic around the school. But you gotta understand, Rouge, I really didn't mean to," he pleaded. "I'm really sorry."

Rouge bit her lip. She didn't know what to tell him. 'Should I tell him that the date's off, to get lost? Or should I forgive him?'

She wanted to forgive him and tell him that it was no big deal, but she reminded herself that it _was_ a big deal. But she also didn't want to leave him—after all, he _was_ the only one who ever really truly loved her with all his heart. All of the other guys in her life didn't really _love _her. She just _thought _that because she hadn't experienced real love before. The other guys had only had a crush on her, not ever really loved her. And now that she thought about it, they never seemed like they had ever truly loved anyone in their life.

So this was the final moment of truth; to see if Rouge really did love him, or if it was just a fad. There were so many things going through her mind at once—and so many questions. Was she ever going to make up her mind? Was she in love with Shadow? Was it just a crush? Did she just _think _she liked Shadow because he had been with Linda before? What would everyone else think about her decision? Would people think she made the right choice, or say that she must have been defective because of what she chose? Why couldn't Rouge decide what to say? Why didn't she know which words were the right ones?

She had always been good at giving an answer on the spot, but now it was just plain hard for her to make up her mind. She honestly had no idea what she should say, what Shadow would want, what would make everyone happy.

She went over it a dozen times in her mind, then finally made her decision.

"Shadow…I choose…"


	10. No More Linda

"Shadow…I forgive you," Rouge said after 2 long minutes of thinking it over.

Shadow smiled. "I knew you'd make the right decision.

Rouge walked up to him and took a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. She placed it in his hand and he unfolded it:

_Love triumphs over all._

He looked back up at Rouge; she was smiling. He put the paper in his pocket and held out his arms. Rouge held out her own, and they fell into a hug.

"I'll cherish those words," he whispered into her ear.

"And you know, I was saving that piece of paper for when I made my decision after you asked me to be your girlfriend," Rouge told him, a bit of laughter in her voice. "It's also one of my mottos."

When they broke the hug, Linda stomped over to them. She jerked Shadow away from Rouge and kept a tight grip on his arm.

"_Excuse me, _but Shadow's _mine_!" she snapped. "Besides, you got a man. You're with Chip."

"Are you stupid?" Shadow shouted. "Rouge was only _pretending _to be Chip's girlfriend so that you would leave him the hell alone!"

Rouge slapped her forehead. "You weren't supposed to tell her…"

"Oh…Sorry," Shadow said quietly.

"Oh really? So Chip is single," Linda said slyly. "See ya, Shadow. I got a new target."

She walked down the hall. On her way, she stopped in front of Jim and Leo and said, "And you two can get lost. Chip's the new hottie."

Jim and Leo watched her go in awe. They were actually jealous of Chip. Chip was just coming out of the restroom when Linda said, "Hey, Chip. Heard you're single."

"What? Of course I'm not. I'm with Rouge; haven't you heard of that?" Chip told her nonchalantly.

"Shadow blabbed your secret to me," she told him, a smile on her face.

Chip looked around Linda at Shadow, a look of shock on his face. He couldn't believe Shadow had told Linda the secret! Shadow only shrugged and smiled sheepishly. Linda wrapped her arms around Chip's right arm; he tried to get away, but she had a death grip on him.

"So, how about we go somewhere together?" she suggested.

Then, the gothic female hedgehog Chip had met some days ago jumped in front of them.

"Not so fast," she said. "I like Chip, and I'm pretty sure he likes me."

"What?" Linda responded, a look of disgust on her face.

Chip got away from Linda's grip and hid behind the goth girl. "I'm staying with her."

Linda scoffed and stomped on her way. Before she turned the corner, she turned to everyone and said, "This _isn't _the end; I'll be back."

With that, she turned the corner and disappeared. Shadow and Rouge stared at the corner, then looked back at each other.

"Well, it looks like we won. Linda's probably not gonna bother us again," Rouge said.

"It also seems that Chip found someone," Shadow added, and pointed to the couple.

"Thanks for saving me from Linda," Chip said to the girl. "By the way, what's your name, sweetie?"

"It's Olivia," she answered, blushing a bit. "And don't call me sweetie."

Chip chuckled and they walked off together, hand-in-hand. Rouge smiled.

"I'm glad he's happy," she said. "He really deserves a nice girl like her."

"I agree," Shadow said, and smiled as well.

He tried to grab Rouge's hand, but she jerked it away.

"Not until our first date," she said.

Shadow smiled again. Then Knuckles walked up to them; he looked upset. Shadow gulped—he knew this was the real Knuckles, and he wondered what he would do to him. When Knuckles approached them, the mean look left his face and he smiled.

"Hey, Shadow. While I'm not really fond of the idea that you and Rouge will be together soon, I can learn to accept it," he said. "I mean, Linda's still single, so I can always get her. I'm just glad you're happy, buddy. You too, Rouge."

With that, he walked away and Shadow let out his breath. He was sure that Knuckles would be mad at him. He was glad that that wasn't the case. Then the bell rang and everyone rushed to their next classes. Rouge and Shadow shared a smile before parting, and Shadow knew that this relationship was going to work out.

'All I have to do is keep doing what I'm doing, and she'll fall head over heels for me,' he thought, and felt even happier.

Then a teacher walked up to him. "Shadow, for that stunt earlier, I am going to have to give you detention."

"What? For how long and at what time?"

"For and hour; and at 6 o'clock," she answered, and then walked away after writing down his name.

"What? 6 o'clock? That won't give me any time to get dressed for the date!" Shadow exclaimed to himself. "I've got to tell Rouge the first chance I get!"

At 2:00 the bell rang and Rouge exited the classroom. She was so excited about going on that date. She went with the crowd to homeroom. Shadow looked frantically for Rouge, but he couldn't see her among all the children.

"I have to tell her before it's too late!"

When the crowd cleared and everyone was in their classroom, he headed for Rouge's homeroom class. But the second bell rang and Shadow was pulled inside by his teacher—and given a tardy slip to fill out.

Rouge was all smiles in homeroom. She doodled her and Shadow on the date, hearts surrounding them. She was so happy, and she felt so in love. Amy had been watching her doodle and smiled. She leaned in close to Rouge.

"You and Shadow are so hooking up, _huh_?"

"What? Amy, it's just a picture. Maybe Shadow won't even like the date that much," Rouge disagreed. "It could be a total bomb."

"But, it could also be a complete success," Amy said, hinting that she told Rouge what was right.

"Whatever," Rouge said. "We'll just have to wait and see."

The bell rang at 2:30 and they packed up to go home. Rouge hung out in the hall and looked for Shadow—oblivious to the fact that he had been sent to the principal's office.

"Ugh, I can't wait any longer. I'll miss my bus," Rouge said to herself, and left.

When Shadow got out of the office he went to the bus area—he knew that Rouge rode the bus on Tuesdays—but he was lost. He had no idea what bus she rode. He sighed as he went back and walked to his car.

"I guess Rouge will just have to wait a while for me," he said glumly.

With that, he climbed into his car and drove home.


	11. The Magical Date

He went inside and looked at the clock. It was 2:50. He had time to eat, relax, maybe take a nap. So he slowly made his way to the kitchen and fixed himself a lonely bowl of cereal. His dad was at work and his mom was probably sleeping. So he ate alone; afterwards he lied down and set his alarm clock for 5:50. He then went to sleep.

The alarm clock rang at 5:50 and Shadow jumped out of bed—he had slept in his clothes. He ran downstairs, where his mother read a book. She quickly looked up when he grabbed his book sack and headed for the door.

"Where are you going? Why are you bringing your book sack? It's in the afternoon, not in the morning; you're not going to school," she said worriedly.

Shadow sighed.

"It's an after-school thing," he lied. "Bye, Mom."

He then left out the door and got into his car. He pulled out of the driveway and sped down the street toward the school.

He got there at exactly 6:00. He raced inside and to his class, but stopped in the hall. The other kids got there early; he saw two other children in his class, and three in Ms. Apple's class. The other classes were empty.

He opened the door and went inside. He grabbed a paper off of the teacher's desk and went to his seat. He started doing the work.

At 7, he quickly packed everything and zoomed out the door. He literally jumped in his car and drove at top speed to his house. When he got there, he swung the door open and ran up the stairs, not even realizing that his mother was fast asleep on the couch.

He quickly got dressed and ran out the door again. He got into his car and started it.

Rouge had been waiting for 20 minutes now. Shadow had said 7 o'clock, right?

"Maybe I heard wrong," she said to herself. "Or maybe he just stood me up."

She sighed and turned around. She started walking to her house, when a car honked its horn at her. She spun around and smiled; Shadow had come!

She got in the passenger side and they started to drive. Shadow could see what she was wearing out of the corner of his eye: a long white dress with gold trims, white gloves with gold trims, white high heels, and a gold necklace around her neck.

It was nothing like what he was wearing: a black shirt with long sleeves, black ankle-length jeans, and black skates with white bottoms (not his usual ones).

They looked completely different. But somehow, they looked the same. Or maybe it wasn't the similarity—maybe it was how opposite they were. Now that Shadow thought about it, opposite colors went really well together. Like blue and pink, or green and yellow, or…Black and white.

"I'm glad you showed up," Rouge told him. "I was so worried that you'd stood me up and that you weren't coming."

"Sorry I kept you waiting," Shadow apologized. "I got detention. I tried to tell you, but I never got the chance."

"It's ok, thought, 'cause you're here now," Rouge said.

Shadow smiled at her, then they had silence for a moment. Minutes later, they pulled up into the parking lot of the restaurant and got out of the car. They walked inside; the place was gorgeous!

There were fine tables placed everywhere, chairs scooted under them. The tabletops were covered by a thick, dark red cloth, the same kind of fabric as the chair cushions. The walls were dark red with paintings hung up, and the carpet was black. The ceiling was black also, and chandeliers were hung in two places. The lights were dimmed and there were candles lit on each table. The musicians played the most romantic tunes, setting just the right mood.

They found a table in the middle of the room and looked through their menus. A waiter arrived shortly.

"And what will ze lovely couple be dining on zis fine evening?" he asked in his French accent.

"I'll have a salad," Rouge said politely.

"And for ze gentleman?"

"I'll have the soup."

"Ah, a fine choice."

He walked away as a waitress came by and placed a plate of break sticks in front of them. She left as quickly as she came, and Rouge beamed.

'This is so romantic, Shadow!" she exclaimed. "I can't _remember_ the last time I came to such a restaurant!"

Shadow smiled. He was happy that Rouge was having such a good time. And his plan was working. Rouge was falling for him!

After the date, Rouge and Shadow walked to the car, side-by-side. They stopped by it and Rouge grabbed Shadow's hand.

"Thank you, Shadow, for bringing me on such a wonderful date," she said. "I absolutely loved it. The food was delicious, the place was beautiful, and the service was amazing. I never ever thought I could have such a wonderfully amazing time; it felt so magical."

A breeze came by and Rouge shivered. Shadow took it upon himself to cover her with his own jacket. The cold didn't bother him much, since his fur was black and soaked in heat.

"We'd better get going," Shadow suggested. "It's getting cold out here."

They got into the car and Shadow drove Rouge home. He dropped her off and she blew him a kiss. He put the car in reverse, and Rouge realized that she was still wearing his jacket.

"Shadow, you're jacket—"

"Keep it," Shadow insisted.

He shot her a smile before pulling away from the house and driving off. Rouge snuggled the jacket; what a sweet thing for Shadow to let her have his jacket. Most guys wanted their jackets back, but Shadow obviously didn't care. What he _really _cared about was Rouge, and he surely didn't want her to catch a cold. Of course, he couldn't have Rouge sick for their next date.

Rouge stood there a moment longer, but got another shiver so she went inside. Then she realized that she hadn't blown Shadow a kiss before he left, but she figured he got the message. She grabbed a piece of gum and chewed on it for a while. Then she got a shiver of excitement.

She ran up the stairs and down the hall—but not by her parents' bedroom—and into her room. She crashed on the bed and grabbed her diary from underneath her pillow. She searched for her pen, which had apparently fallen out of the diary's pen holder. When she found it she thought for a moment, then started to write.

_~ Dear Diary ~_

_It's True—I'm in Love._


	12. The Ending Kiss

Shadow drove to school with a smile on his face; he was so happy that the date had been a success. He wanted to share this joy with the world.

He parked in his cozy little spot next to Rouge and got out. He saw Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Cream, Amy, and Rouge standing there, smiling at him. He smiled back; their group was back together.

"We've decided that since you are now able to talk to Rouge, you may hang out with us," Amy told him.

"Amy, please don't be rude," Cream urged.

"How is that being rude?" Amy asked. "I just said he was allowed to hang out with us."

"Anyway," Sonic interrupted, "Welcome to the group, Shadow."

That made Shadow happier. He wanted to jump for joy, but he didn't want to be kicked out of the group. Rouge walked over to him and grabbed his hand.

She smiled real pretty at him. "I'm happy you're able to be a part of this famous group."

"Me too, Rouge," Shadow agreed. "When I first came here, I thought I'd never be in the popular group and that I'd never be able to win your heart. The odds seemed impossible. But here I am, holding hands with the most beautiful girl in the school."

Rouge smiled at that. "And I was a fool. I was so blinded by what _I _wanted and what _I _felt, that I didn't think of you. I admit I thought you were a loser, but I don't think that anymore. In fact, you're not a loser at all—because you _did _just win a prize." She winked at him.

Shadow laughed. "It's true. "I've won the _greatest_ prize of all."

"Aren't they the cutest couple?" Amy commented to Sonic. "Besides us, of course."

"For the last time, I'm NOT your boyfriend!" Sonic exclaimed.

Amy giggled. "Of _course_ you are, Sonic. You just keep telling yourself that."

Shadow and Rouge smiled at them.

"I'm sure she'll find live on day," Rouge said.

"And who knows? It may even be Sonic someday," Shadow added.

They squeezed each other's hands and went inside to building together. They parted at the hallway and went on their way to first period. Shadow got into French and sat in his seat next to Blaze. Silver wasn't there that day, and for the first time since Shadow got to the school, she asked him a question not concerning French work.

"So what did you do yesterday?"

"Well, me and Rouge went on a date," Shadow answered.

"Linda's really mad about what happened yesterday with Chip," Blaze informed him.

"I know," Shadow told her. "I'm just glad she's off our backs and out of our way. She caused so much trouble."

"Yeah," Blaze agreed. "So, what's up with you and Rouge?"

"Honestly, I think she's ready to be with me," Shadow said, and smiled. "She now holds my hand, she's been blowing me kisses, she even has my jacket—I want to ask her to be my girlfriend."

"So ask her," Blaze persuaded. "If she's ready, she'll say yes. If she says no, then you can wait a while. Simple as that."

"Well, you're not in a confusing position like I am," Shadow argued.

"Actually, I really like Silver—and I do want him to be my boyfriend—but I don't think he's ready," Blaze explained matter-of-factly. "He probably just wants to be friends right now. Besides, it's weird if the girl asks the guy out. The guy should always ask the girl."

"Hm, that's not always the case," Shadow said. "If the girl has a lot of power or if she's really well-known and respected, then it's more likely that she will ask him—like Rouge."

"But Rouge didn't ask anyone out," Blaze argues. "_They _always asked _her_."

"That's because Rouge was never interested in anyone," Shadow argued back.

"Hm," Blaze uttered. Shadow had a point. "Fine. Bravo. You win."

She smiled and he smiled back, then they both started on their class work.

For second period, Rouge made sure to blow Shadow a kiss before she went to P.E. It was Friday—the last day of basketball. Monday would start Tennis, Rouge's favorite sport. She was really good at it. That week would surely be better than the second week of school, when they had volleyball. Rouge was absolutely terrible at it. The only thing she could do right was hit the ball under-hand. She couldn't serve, she couldn't spike, she couldn't even set.

She sat on the bench again today and watched. All of the guys and only the small-chested girls played. Sometimes Rouge felt envious of the small-chested girls; her big breasts often got in the way of sports. She couldn't do track, basketball, volleyball, even swimming. Tennis, golf, and baseball she could play—but nothing else. So she just sat there and watched everyone else play.

Knuckles used to keep her company, but not anymore. For some reason, he didn't sit on the bench and keep her company like he used to. He sat at the other bench when he took a break.

'I wonder what's on his mind,' Rouge thought. 'Is he actually jealous—but wait, he said he wasn't, and with a smile on his face.'

She thought it over for a while and decided that she was going to ask him what was wrong. She stood up and slowly walked over to him. He looked like he was really mad about something. He was all sweaty from playing basketball, and he had his head resting in his hand.

"Hey, Knux," Rouge greeted.

Knuckles looked up and got a smile on his face. "Oh, hey, Rouge. What's up?"

'Wait a minute…' Rouge thought. "What's the matter? You look mad about something."

"Oh, that," Knuckles started. "It's nothin'. It's just that damn Jim, and his partner Leo. They're always stealing the ball from me! I've been playing basketball for twenty minutes and I haven't made one shot yet! Those guys are really getting on my nerves."

"It's ok, Knux," Rouge said. "They're just a little more competitive than you are, that's all. Don't think of it as too much."

"Thanks for making me feel a little better, Rouge," Knuckles said, and smiled at her.

She smiled back and sat back down on the other bench.

After school, Shadow and Rouge stood by their cars and said good-bye to their friends for the weekend. Rouge looked at Shadow and smiled.

"Well, I guess it'll just be normal school from here on," Rouge said to Shadow.

Shadow smiled, then asked her, "Rouge…Well, I was wondering…Um…Well…Would you like to be my…Girlfriend? I mean, of course only if you're ready. If you don't want to, then that's fine…But, I mean…"

"Shadow," Rouge interrupted with a bit of laughter in her voice. "I'd love to."

"And you can forget about me and Linda's date, right?"

Then Rouge laughed. She pulled him toward her and they locked lips in a kiss. After a while, she pulled away from him and smiled. He smiled a sort of zigzagged smile, then said, "_I love you_."

Rouge smiled wider and pulled him toward her again, and kissed him.


End file.
